domestic bourgeoisie

The optimism that the newly formed BRICS bank can provide an alternative to the neo-liberal World Bank maybe misplaced given the political economy of the BRICS members. BRICS_Bank (Download the full text in PDF format) (This article was originally published in the People's Democracy, Vol. XXXVIII No. 30, July 27, 2014.)

On July 15, the five BRICS countries, Brazil , Russia, India, China, and South Africa formally created a New Development Bank at Forteleza, Brazil, which would be headquartered in Shanghai and would have an Indian as its first President. It would have a capital base of $50 billion to start with, contributed by the five governments, and would provide development funding to all governments for infrastructure projects. The BRICS proposal also envisages a Contingency Reserve Arrangement, of $100 billion, which will give loans to governments for tiding over balance of payments problems; but this arrangement is yet to get started.…